News // Middle East and OPEC

Libya called to share production plans with OPEC in St.Petersburg next week

19 July 2017 , 10:12Neftegaz.RU479

Libya has been called on by the OPEC to share production plans at a summit next week, an oil company director said on July 18, 2017.

Libya and fellow OPEC member-state Nigeria are exempt from the multilateral agreement to stem production in an effort to offset some of the supply-side strains that last year pushed oil prices below $30 per barrel.

Both countries have seen dramatic gains in production since the deal was implemented in January, dampening the impact.

Parties to a committee monitoring the agreement meet next week in St. Petersburg, Russia, to review the impact.

Mustafa Sanalla, the head of Libya's National Oil Corp. said OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo wants to see production plans from Libya at the meeting.

«I will consult with significant Libyan decision-makers before I leave and hope to present a unified Libyan position in St. Petersburg that will show we can act together in the national interest», he said in a statement.

OPEC economists in their monthly market report for July said that, combined, Nigeria and Libya were adding about a quarter million barrels of oil per day to the market, while other member states scaled back.

Recent data shows Libya is on pace to pass 1 million barrels per day, in line with Sanalla's goal for the month and close to pre-crisis levels.

This week, members of Libya's national oil company met with officials from Norwegian energy company Statoil to review developments in the North African country.

The NOC said officials from Statoil were briefed on the «improvement of security situation in the production areas and NOC plans to return production to its normal levels.»